Pinch-bar



(No Model.)

J. H. FELLENBAUM'.

'BINGH BAR.

' Patented July 16, 1895.

" NlTED STATES PATENT FFICEE.

JOHN H. FELLENBAUM, OF BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA.

PlNQH-BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,634, dated July 16, 1895.

Application filed J une 22, 1 8 94.

Serial No. 515,405- (No model.)

. Bellefonte, in the county of Centre and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Pinch-Bar, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improvement in that class of pinch-bars which are adapted to operate against the wheels of railway-cars,

and the principal object of the invention is to provide superior means for raising the fulcrum-point of the bar from engagement with the track when the bar is not being operated, thereby protecting the point by preventing it from being moved along the track or from all contact therewith, eXcept a direct contact between the point of the fulcrum and the track, and this only during the operation of the bar.

A further object is to give to that part of the bar which engages the wheel such ashape that its .operation will be materially assisted, and so that this point will engage the wheel with a gradual or sliding contact.

Theseends I attain by certain peculiar features of construction and combination and arrangement of parts, which will be more fully described hereinafter, and finally embodied in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved device, showing it in the act of operating on a car-wheel; Fig. 2, an enlarged perspective of the pinch bar, showing itstanding alone; Fig. 3,a longitudinal section of the fulcrum end of the bar, such section being taken on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4, a detail perspective of the fulcrumblock, showing it detached; ,Fig. 5, a similar view of the spring-shoe by which the fulcrumblock is kept raised from the track, except during positive operation of the pinch-bar.

The reference-numeral 1 indicates the main portion or handle of the device, which together with the entire pinch-bar is formed of metal and is provided with the double curve 2 by which the other end of the handle is raised above the plane of the portion directly contiguous to the fulcrum -block, whereby such outer end is made more convenient for the operator. The bar increases in thickness as it proceeds toward the fulcrum end, and has formed on its'under side at a point very near the end opposite the handle 1 the two oppositely-arranged and duplicate lugs 3. These lugs 3 should be integral with the bar, and one is provided with an internallythreaded opening through which the set-screw 4 passes to the space between the two lugs.

5 indicates the fulcrum-block, which is formed of cast-steel and which is provided with the laterally-extending point or edge 6, said edge being attained by a double bevel formed in the end of the block. The shape ofthe block 5 is rectangular in cross-section, and it is arranged to fit snugly between the lugs 3, while the purpose of the set-screw 4. is to bind therewith, and by so doing to hold it rigidly in position. It isnot the function of the set-screw to receive any of the strain which is placed upon the block 5, since the block bears directly upon the bar, and it is here that this strain is received, the sole purpose of the set-screw being to prevent the accidental movement of the block, or, in other words, to hold it in place.

Formed on the pinch-bar and extending from a point opposite the block 5 to the adjacent end of the bar is the cam-face 7, which is composed of a gradual curve and which is adapted to bear against the tread of the wheel 8 in the drawings and to form a sliding contact therewith,so that as the pinch-bar is operated the wheel will be moved from engage ment with the bar bya gradual sliding movement, and the force whioh'actuates the wheel under these circumstances will be of the same leverage at all times during the operation,

owingto the relation which the cam-face 7 bears to the f ulcrum-block 6.

Rigidlyt secured to the extreme point 9 of the pinch-bar is the spring-shoe 10, which consists of a stout spring-metal plate extending rearwardly from the point 9 to a point immediately forward of the block 5 and is of a width equal to that of the bar. This shoe has a normal tendency away from the bar, and this tendency is of sufficient force to overcome the gravity attending the outer end of the bar, and consequently raise said outer end when it is attended by no pressure other than its weight. Thus it will be seen that as the pinch-bar is moved into the inclined space between the tread of the wheel and rail the shoe 10 will operate to hold the fulcrum-block 5 out of engagement with the rail until the bar is moved so far within the inclined space that the tendency of the spring 10 will be overcome and the block 5 forced into engagement with the rail. It will be noticed, however, that this engagement of the block 5 with the track is due to a tendency other than the gravity which attends the handle 1 and that the engagement will be effected bya direct linear movement of the block 5, as distinguished from a slidingmovement, or one wherein the point of the block is subjected to lateral engagement with the rail, and such as is calculated to destroy that edge which is essential to the effective operation of the block.

As the handle 1 is pushed down to operate the bar the fulcrum-block 5 will engage the rail directly on its point and no tendency will attend the block 5 other than a tendency toward the track in a line approximately direct with its point. Such an engagement as this will have little tendency to prematurely destroy the point of'the block and is attended by the least possible detriment thereto.

In the use of my invention the bar is placed in the position which it is shown to assume in Fig. 1, so that the point 9 will be toward the wheel and so that the shoe 10 will engage the tread of the track. In this position the block 5 will, owing to the influence of the shoe 10, be raised'out of engagement with the track. The bar should now be advanced into the space between the wheel and track, whereupon, as this space decreases in vertical extent, the influence of the shoe 10 will be overcome and the shoe forced to move toward the bar. shoe and the point of the block 5 lie in the same horizontal plane, whereupon the point of the block will be made to engage the track. At this stage of the operation further movement of the pinch-bar toward the center of the wheel will be impossible and the rocking or oscillation of the bar will next be in order. This should be effected by depressing the handle 1, thereby causing the cam-surface 7 to move against the wheel and to push it to forward movement, as is common in this class of devices and as will be understood.

The operation of the cam-face 7 on the tread This operation will continue until the of the wheel has been described and will, it is thought, be clearly understood. By means of this face a gradual and sliding movement between the wheel and bar is effected and the wheel made to slide off of said face in a manner much more easy than if the face was abrupt or plane. After the first downward movement of the handle 1 has been completed the pinch-bar should be again advanced upon the now forwardly-moved wheel until the shoe 10 again assumes that position which is attended by the engagement of the block 5 and the tread of the track, whereupon a second operation is necessary, and so on until the wheel has been advanced as far as desired.

It will also be seen that the shoe 10 not only operates to raise the block 5 in the recover, but also raises the point 9 of the pinch-bar, so as to make the free end ofthe shoe rest upon the tread of the rail to the absolute exclusion of all other parts, thereby not only protecting the fulcrum point but also preventing the wearing away of the point 9 and of the front of the shoe. Further, this capability makes it much easier to advance the pinch-bar, since there is less surface presented to the rail and consequently less friction between the parts. When the superior force explained hereinbefore overcomes the strength of the shoe 10, the other parts will again engage the rail, all of which has been explained.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- A pinch bar consisting of a bar or rod provided near one end with a fulcrum point, and a spring-shoe fixed to said end and projecting rearwardly to a point immediately forward of the fulcrum, the rear end of the shoe. being free and having a normal tendency away from the bar, which tendency is of sufiicient strength to raise every portion of the pinch bar when the same is attended by no other force than its inherent weight, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. FELLENBAUM.

Witnesses:

D. R. FOREMAN, W. F. SMITH. 

